Don't Give Up
by Scarlet has Fantasy Issues
Summary: Seth grows worried about Noelle when she starts having nightmares and threatens to give up on her favorite holiday. Can he change her mind and save her before it's too late?


**A/N: Hello my lovelies. I'm in a funk. A really bad funk and I am pushing back at people that care. I wrote this because of the funk. I needed healing and I needed to let this out somehow. A bit of lightheartedness at the end, I guess. I hope you enjoy.**

**OOOOOOOOOO**

Seth was walking out of an elevator in the hotel where he was staying when he heard a scream and lifted his eyes. People were gathered around a door, Mike testing the doorknob while pounding on the actual door with his palm. Seth's eyes widened when he recognized it as his hotel room and he knew that Noelle was in there, sleeping off a headache.

_Noelle,_ Seth thought, taking his steps faster.

"Noelle, are you all right in there?" Mike called through the door. "Noelle, you have to open the door! Or I'll break it down!"

"Maybe we should get security to open it?" Eve asked, biting her bottom lip.

Seth pushed past his fellow Superstars and pulled out his keycard. "I got this covered, guys," he told them. "She's probably just having a bad dream. Trust me, I got it." He slid his card through the lock and pushed the door open before glancing over his shoulder at his concerned coworkers. "I'll let you know if I need any help."

"But Seth," Mike began, but Seth closed the door in his face and tossed the keycard aside.

Seth's eyes turned onto the bed in the middle of the room and he saw Noelle tossing and turning on the bed, her face a mixture of pain and fear as she gripped the sheets. Her mouth opened and another scream issued from her plump lips.

"Noelle!" Seth said, moving over to the bed and sitting next to her. He put his hand on her shoulder and gently shook her. "Noelle, Noelle, wake up, baby girl."

Noelle's sea blue eyes flew open and she sat upright, gasping for air. She looked around wildly as if confused about where she was and then her eyes landed on Seth. Seth offered her a small reassuring smile as he slid his hand down her arm, but it seemed to have the opposite effect. The Diva's bottom lip quivered and she leaped forward, wrapping her arms around him and started crying into his chest.

"Easy, it's all right," Seth told her, smoothing his hand through her raven black hair. "I got you, Noelle. It was just a dream. I got you."

Noelle held onto him tighter and shook her head. "Seth, it keeps happening! Over and over again! Every time I close my eyes, I dream that same dream and I hate it!" She let out a small sob and tightened her grip on the back of his shirt for a moment. "I hate the feeling of being buried alive by my own mother…"

"Your mother is hundreds of miles away, baby," Seth reminded her, threading his fingers through her hair. "She never knows where you are. You're safe."

The Diva pushed against him and gave him a look with her sea blue eyes, still wet with tears. "But _he _knows where I am, Seth! He knows where I am all the time!"

Seth's expression darkened. "Right, the ex."

Seth didn't know how he could have let himself forget about Noelle's ex for even a moment. That bastard had used her, abused her, controlled her and then dumped her all within a few months of dating. Noelle had been in love with him, completely love crazy, and had put up with all of the shit and then been devastated when the bastard dumped her. Then when fuckboy decided to become an asshole to her and start making her life miserable after the breakup, Noelle had begun getting into a more depressive state that Seth was trying to help her beat.

_If I had just two minutes alone with him in a locked room_, Seth thought, running his hands down her arms slowly. "Dan's not going to get you, Noelle. He's back in Ohio."

"Right," Noelle whispered, staring down at his chest.

"You hungry?" Seth asked, looking at her. "It's past time for lunch."

Noelle shook her head and turned on the bed, scooching to the edge of it. "I'm not hungry, Seth."

Seth's brow furrowed as he watched her stand up and tug her black tank back into place. He wracked his brain for the last time he recalled her eating. The Superstar had kept up with her eating schedule since the breakup since he found out that Noelle had a bad habit of not eating when she got upset. His eyes narrowed for a moment when he realized he hadn't seen her eat since the day before yesterday.

"Noelle…" Seth said softly. "I could order us a pizza. Put all of our favorite toppings on it and we could watch some horror flicks."

"No," Noelle muttered, crossing her arms over her chest and looking away. "I'm not hungry, Seth. Get a pizza for yourself if you want."

"You need to eat, baby girl," Seth told her, rising to his feet. "Starving yourself isn't healthy…"

"I'm not starving myself."

"You haven't eaten in two days, Noelle. That's starving yourself." Seth looked down at her. "I can't let you get so weak from hunger that you pass out – they won't let you wrestle that way. The company will put you on some kind of medical treatment or leave, baby girl."

Noelle was silent, staring at his chest and chewing on her bottom lip. Seth reached into his pocket and withdrew his phone.

"I'll order us a pizza with all the best toppings," Seth announced, already pulling open the app. "With hot wings, cheesy breadsticks, and some pop to split. All right?"

The raven-haired Diva nodded and continued to stare at his chest, but didn't say anything. Seth quickly ordered everything that he wanted and then confirmed the order before slipping his phone back into his pocket.

"The grub should be here in thirty minutes, baby girl," he told her, putting his hands on her hips.

"Meh," Noelle said softly.

Seth lifted an eyebrow at her. "Meh?"

"Meh," Noelle repeated.

"You want a booty pop for that?" Seth asked, tightening his grip slightly on her hips. "Because I will give you one for every meh you give me."

Noelle gave him a look. "You just want to touch my booty, Seth."

"Damn straight," Seth grinned, tapping his fingers against her hips. "You have a nice booty, Noelle. Especially in these jeans."

"Meh," Noelle grumbled, looking away.

"That's three," Seth told her with a small smirk.

Noelle shook her head and looked away again. "I don't care…" She slipped out of his grip and walked over to the window, looking out it. "I really don't care."

Seth's smirk faded as he looked at his best friend from his early wrestling career. He could tell she was struggling, but he wasn't sure how to help her if she kept shutting down on him. Seth sighed and glanced over at the television in his room. An idea came to mind.

"You want to watch old school Nightmare on Elm Street?" he asked, looking back at her.

"No…" Noelle said, shaking her head so that her hair rippled around her shoulders. "I'm not interested in anything horror, Seth."

"Since when?" Seth asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "You're the Queen of Horror and Spooks, Noelle. This is your month."

"Not anymore…"

"What?"

"I don't want to have anything to do with Halloween anymore, Seth," Noelle whispered, keeping her back to him.

Seth's heart cracked at her words and his breath caught in his chest. "Noelle…"

"I can't do it anymore, Seth. I tried to get in the spirit, but I can't. It's all forced and I'm miserable." She shook her head. "I'm having nightmares and missing sleep and I just can't keep this up. I'm not in the mood for Halloween and I can't deal with the spooks anymore."

"But you worked so hard on planning your costume out," Seth reminded her, stepping closer to her and looking at her profile. "You wanted so badly to be a Lost Boys inspired vampire this year. It took you forever to find the perfect leather jacket, leather mini skirt and matching boots…The fangs, everything…"

"What's the point?" Noelle asked, looking at him with wet sea blue eyes. "I'm not going anywhere with anyone on Halloween. I will be alone. I bought all of that costume junk for no reason. It's taking up closet space and it's a waste of money and time and energy."

"No," Seth said, shaking his head.

"Yes," Noelle argued, her lips quivering. "Halloween is a waste of everything for me. It's all a big waste and I can't stand it anymore. I can't stand any of these stupid holidays. Halloween is the second worst with Christmas being the absolute worst! I can't do it anymore, Seth. I can't…"

"No," Seth repeated, grabbing her and pulling her to him. He crushed her in a tight hug against his chest. "You can't give up, Noelle. You can't give up on anything except for this damn depression that you've got, baby girl."

"I can't do it anymore, Seth," Noelle cried into his chest. "I can't take it. I'm tired of being alone and I am tired of being scared of my own shadow, of being so stressed out and being afraid of seeing Dan come walking back into my life. Everything is getting to me and I am making your life miserable…I'm making everyone miserable. It's not right…"

"You're not making me miserable," Seth told her, holding her tighter, trying to give her comfort through his touch. "I want to be here for you, all the time, Noelle. You're not alone. You're never alone. I want to help you and I'll always help you because I care. I really care about you." He pressed a kiss to her hair and rested his cheek against the top of her head. "I'm not going to let you go off, baby girl. Dan won't ever touch you again and I'm not going to let anyone hurt you, including yourself. I'll hold you every night if I have to, just to make sure you're safe."

"That's not fair to you…"

"It's what I want to do," Seth stated, rubbing his fingers against her skin. "I don't want you to give up on Halloween – it's your holiday, your time to shine. The WWE Universe expects you to go all out on it every year, Noelle. You're their Spook Queen."

"I don't know, Seth," Noelle whispered against his chest.

"C'mon, look at me," Seth urged, lifting his cheek from her head and looking down at her. "Please look at me."

Noelle lifted her face away from his chest and looked at him with wet sea blue eyes. Seth gently brushed away a few stray tears with the pad of his thumb. He offered her a small smile.

"What if I say that you won't be alone on Halloween?" he asked her, tilting her head to the side.

"I don't follow," Noelle said softly.

"I could do something with you," Seth told her, putting his arms around her again. "We could be hot badass vampires in leather together, make the whole roster completely jealous."

"Seth…don't do this," Noelle sighed, resting her forehead against his chest briefly. "Don't force yourself into doing something to make me feel better."

"I want to do this with you, you're not forcing me," Seth pointed out with a smile. He swayed with her. "It shouldn't be too hard for me to find a leather jacket and I can easily get myself some of those fangs like yours and I have some decent jeans. I can get some cool boots to go with yours. What else do I need?" He laughed and put his tongue in his cheek. "I'll figure it out later, but we'll look pretty badass and sexy, won't we?"

Noelle made a small face at him. "Meh…"

Seth slipped a hand down and smacked her on the ass lightly. "One booty pop for that meh, baby girl. Keep it up and I'll break out the belt. Bend you right over my knee."

"Seth!" Noelle whined, putting her hands on his chest.

"Noelle!" Seth whined back, giving her a playful smirk.

"That was my booty you touched," Noelle complained, giving him a pout.

"Nice booty too," Seth told her. "I could squeeze it if you'd let me…"

"Maybe later," Noelle said, shaking her head.

"Can I kiss that pout away too?" Seth asked, eyeing that pout that had fallen on his best friend's lips. "It's adorable."

"It's not," Noelle argued.

"I'll booty pop you if you argue with me," Seth warned, giving her a look. "You're adorable, perfectly cute and I'm going to keep telling you that."

"Jerk," Noelle said, sticking her tongue out at him.

Seth snapped his teeth at her and she squirmed in his arms. The Superstar's hands slid up to her sides and he started tickling her. Noelle gasped and turned, trying to escape.

"No!" she protested, squirming. "No, no, no! Seth, stop!"

Seth laughed and held her as she laughed at him, trying to get away from his tickling fingers. Her hands reached for his and she gripped his hands tightly in hers, stopping him. Her body shook from the effort of laughing, but Seth held her, listening to her breathing even out.

"You feeling better, baby girl?" he asked, resting his chin on her shoulder.

"A tad," Noelle said, nodding her head. "But I need help, Seth…"

"I'll be here for you," Seth promised, squeezing her fingers. "Any time you need me, I'll be right here with hugs and a shoulder to cry on." He pressed a kiss to the spot behind her ear and heard her sigh. "You're not getting rid of me, Noelle. No matter how hard you push back."

Noelle let out a small sound.

"What was that?" Seth asked.

"Meh," Noelle said quietly.

Seth slid a hand free and popped her on the booty. "I'm still keeping count, you know."

"Seth!" Noelle protested, jumping out of his arms and darting across the room.

Seth grinned and chased after her. "Come here you!" he laughed. "I want to see you test out that costume! And if you meh me one more time, I'm breaking out something that'll get you blushing!"

"Oh no!" Noelle laughed, jumping onto the bed and darting off around the room. "Seth, no!"

"Seth, yes!" Seth smirked, following after her. "I'm coming for that booty, baby girl! The Queen of Spooks has nothing on me!"

**OOOOOOOOO**

**A/N: What did you think? Please leave a comment or two in the little box and much love to all of you! Things will get better eventually. Thank you! -Scarlet**


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